Empowering Rural High-School Students: A Career Awareness Workshop Experience

By: Shobha.

In early January 2025, volunteers from New Morning Trust had the privilege of conducting a career awareness workshop for 10th-standard students in a rural school in Chikballapur District. The workshop was organized by Gramantara, an NGO working to promote rural development and enhance the quality of life for villagers in the Chikballapur district. The session was held at Minorities Morarji Desai Model Residential School—Peresandra.

This experience left an indelible mark on us and offered great learning as we witnessed the untapped potential of young minds with vivid dreams & eagerness for guidance.

The workshop took place in the picturesque village of Peresandra surrounded by lush greenery with hilly background. The school was modest but vibrant, filled with enthusiastic students who greeted us with shy smiles and curious eyes. We received a warm welcome from the headmistress. The founder trustee of Gramantara Mrs. Usha Shetty was present with two other volunteers from Gramantara.

The workshop aimed to inspire, inform, and equip the students with knowledge about the vast array of career opportunities. Students seemed to have a limited understanding of professional and vocational careers as they came from families with limited exposure to higher education or professional careers. Our goal was to help them dream beyond their immediate surroundings and show them the path to achieve those dreams.

We began with icebreakers to build rapport and encourage participation. We also presented a few role-plays showing that it is normal to be confused about career choices, and worried about the financial resources for higher education. Some scenarios also represented a small segment of students who are not motivated to continue higher education and have the need to start earning money soon after their schooling.

Then, we delved into career paths across diverse fields like healthcare, science, technology, arts, finance, social sciences, entrepreneurship, etc. The session was very interactive and the children participated well in the discussion.

The second half of the session was more about vocational careers. This was done in an interactive format by quizzing them on different vocational careers. The children participated enthusiastically and asked a lot of relevant questions.

It was heartening to see that noble intentions are driving their career dreams. Few students want to serve the country through careers such as armed forces, IAS, IPS, etc. One girl student is dreaming about becoming the President of India one day.

Many children want to serve the poor & needy by becoming doctors. We introduced them to the world of paramedical careers which are more reachable to this set of children and still fulfill their desire to serve humanity.

Their noble intentions inspired us.

While their enthusiasm was profound, there were challenges to overcome:

• Limited Awareness: Many students were unaware of careers beyond commonly known fields such as engineering, medicine, and IAS/IPS. Aspiring for such careers is good but, they had to be made aware of the intense preparation needs, tough competition, need for additional coaching, etc.
• Language Barriers: Some struggled to follow conversations in English, so we had to ensure the workshop was conducted in Kannada Language.
• Resource Gaps: Access to the internet, books, or career counseling services was minimal, making it critical to focus on practical and accessible advice.

Next Steps: The following areas could not be addressed due to limited time. It is useful to talk about the availability of financial resources such as government and private-sector scholarships. Also, it is useful to introduce them to various career planning tools & resources. Online resources to help them narrow down their career paths based on their aptitude, personality, and interest areas could prove to be very useful to these students. There are some challenges in organizing these career identification tests as there is a cost involved and not many popular tests are available in the local language.

There were some key learnings –

• Student’s dreams and aspirations reminded us about the immense potential in rural areas, waiting to be tapped. They taught us the value of resilience and optimism in the face of adversity.
• This experience deepened our understanding of the educational and motivational gaps in rural settings, reinforcing the need for targeted interventions.

The workshop ended with heartfelt thanks and promises to stay in touch. The school headmistress expressed gratitude, highlighting how such initiatives broaden horizons and motivate students to strive for a better future. She wanted New Morning Trust to help the students with other life skill training and sessions on handling the examination stress.

Conducting a career awareness workshop for rural high-school students was a milestone in our journey of learning and growth. It reaffirmed our belief that education is the most powerful tool for transforming lives and breaking the cycle of poverty.

Together, we can empower young minds to dream big and achieve greater heights!